A Day of Firsts

Today Carly got to celebrate many firsts:

~ first time change - she didn't seem to skip a beat, I think the sun controls her schedule more than anything right now.
~ first time in the church nursery - she was a champ! I think David and I were more uneasy during the hour we were apart than she was. She was handed over to one of the nice ladies in the nursery and started smiling. David got our pager (in case there was an issue and they needed us) and wrote Carly out a name tag with our pager number on it (in case they forgot her name and needed us but didn't know which pager we had signed out for her).
~ first time eating sweet potatoes - she ate a few bites very willingly, then started to refuse additional bites. Maybe she was full, or maybe she realized it wasn't rice cereal. Either way we will be trying again tomorrow.
~ first time at Moe's Southwest Grill - yummy dinner with great friends that really meant I didn't have to cook tonight.
~ first time making zerberts - she started making them during dinner. When she woke up from her after dinner nap she was more interested in making zerberts at David, Jake, and myself then playing with her toys.

All in all, Carly had a busy day! And luckily I can say that David and I kept up quite well with her today, our exhaustion is from my 3.2 mile walk and David and Jake's is from their 5 mile run.

She is Just Like Her Daddy

First Breakfast in Carly's High Chair

Carly must have known we had a big day planned. She woke up first this morning at 1:00 am for a feeding and ready to play. She quickly learned that our day was not beginning quite that early. She ate and was put right back in bed, the tears lasted less than 2 minutes. Then she quietly babbled/sang herself to sleep. I drifted off listening to her soothe herself and was thinking that maybe she'd now sleep in even later than her normal 9:00 am wake up.

I was mistaken. I had set my alarm to help get our busy day set off on the right foot, but Carly must have thought it was for her. She was up nice and early this morning ready to play. She and Dave made faces at one another in our bed before bringing her downstairs to show her the high chair he had put together for her last night. She was very excited to try it out and spent a few minutes really looking around. She has been in our breakfast room many times; however, sitting in a high chair puts her at a new height level to the room. It is a whole new perspective for her. Jake was even curious about Carly's new height.

Once the fascination of this new perspective wore off Carly was ready for breakfast. She seemed a lot more excited this morning for her cereal and ate it at a much quicker speed. She was even trying to help David hold the bowl and spoon. He repositioned the bowl and got her a spoon for her to hold independently. While she is content with her own spoon to hold she is determined to at least assist you in the feeding process, if you won't let her do it herself. She will typically grab one of your fingers and use it as the spoon's lever. Bringing your hand and the spoon closer to her so she can eat, or pushing it away because she isn't quite yet ready. (She will do this with her bottle on occasion.)



Thinking about how far she has come in the past two weeks with eating solid foods amazes me. She really is growing up. Which she reminded us tonight when she was sitting on the floor playing with Jake. While David had his feet and hands behind her to make sure she didn't fall back, she would push her back up from the tripod and sit up tall to pet Jake. She isn't steady at sitting and her ab muscles seem to get tired quickly, but she really is working hard to be an independent sitter.

Man's Best Friend...

... or should I say Carly's best friend? Her fascination in Jake is growing everyday. At first she would just watch him when he walked by to check on her. Now she will reach towards him or lean in his direction. Unfortunately her hand coordination is not 100% accurate, so her petting of him looked more like she was slapping him. Today she seemed to have a better sense of where he was in relation to her body and arms and put her hand on him in a gentler fashion. She also was raking her fingers through his fur. Jake was on his best behavior and really enjoyed the extra attention. Luckily he didn't seem to mind when her hands went close to his eyes and allowed me to redirect Carly's hand.

I am loving watching their friendship develop and can't wait to see what they will be like when Carly becomes mobile.

Beautiful Weather, Take Two

Today was another beautiful day! Carly and I enjoyed a walk up to the local movie store to return 2 DVD's Dave and I had rented over the weekend. To get to the store we needed to cross a 5 lane road. This road has crossing signs and cross walks and was very easy to cross. (Which I was grateful for, especially since my tax dollars helped pay for a major overhaul of this road.) However, the video store is then on a short, two lane road off of this street. It amazed me at how much more difficult this street was to cross. The drivers on the larger road were MUCH friendlier.

Our day continued with a wonderful lunch outside by the lake with my mom and brother. It was so beautiful and peaceful to sit on a porch and have a leisurely lunch looking over the lake, which had a few boats out and cruising about.

After a delicious (and not so healthy lunch) we took a walk through the neighborhood, again enjoying the beautiful day. I know that rain is forecasted for the next few days, which I can deal with under one condition: The temperature stays warm during and after this rain episode. We will see if mother nature listens.

Great Day and Great Weather

Today was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! Carly and I started her morning with a 2.5 mile run/walk. Dave then came home for a picnic lunch on our front steps. Her LONG afternoon nap (3 hours) was followed with a 1.5 mile walk and some play time on our front steps.

We are both hoping this weather is here to stay!!


Carly hanging out in her jogging stroller during one of our trips out in the warm, sunny weather.

Kisses

My dad has always used the roller coaster metaphor with me to describe life. Through various events in my life we have discussed our feelings by relating them different points on a roller coaster. These first few months with Carly have been a roller coaster. We have fabulous times when we are up high and can see everything clearly and we have times where I feel like I am hanging on for dear life hoping to survive.

Today was the second highest point since she was born (that will always be the highest point to me). It all started yesterday as she and I climbed the stairs for a nap time. As we climb the stairs I tend to kiss her cheeks, telling her how much her daddy and I love her and how I/we can't wait until she wakes up from her nap to play again. (Basically trying to soothe her and avoid nap time tears.) About half way up the stairs she turned her head and started "kissing" me back (a.k.a. licking my cheek). I noted it in my head, but figured it was just an accident... my cheek randomly got in her tongue's way. However, I did come downstairs and jokingly told Dave that Carly had kissed me, and it was too bad she probably didn't even mean to do it. Then tonight while we were playing, she began to get a little tired and fussy. So I scooped her up and began kissing her little cheeks. Then it happened, she "kissed" me back. Over and over! It was great!!

This is the moment I need to cherish and remember when the terrible 2's hit. Or when she is yelling she hates me because I won't buy her some $100+ pair of jeans or let her go out with a group of friends who are no good. It was absolutely priceless and perfect!! By far the highest feeling I have felt since the first time I held her beautiful self close to my chest.



She did it so many times that Dave was actually able to get a decent picture of her doing it.